$14.99
- 12 illustrated double-page spreads + cover and dedication
- Interactive page-flipping in your browser + downloadable PDF
- Text edits and illustration regeneration included
- Available in 30 languages
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
A made-to-measure book
Charlie Already Starred in One Famous Book — Now He Gets His Own
Few names come with a ready-made storybook tradition quite like Charlie. Here is where the name comes from, what to call him on page twelve, and a few cover ideas for a book where your Charlie is the one stepping into the adventure.
CHARLIEand the Rocket on the Silver Plain
Here's how a book for Charlie could look
Pick a theme, upload a photo, and your child becomes the hero of the story — with their name on the cover and inside.
CHARLIEand the Best-Friend Promise
CHARLIEand the Fawn at the Forest's Edge
CHARLIEand the Wand of Golden Sparks
The covers above are samples — the illustrations were created by artificial intelligence and the children in them aren't real. Your book is made from the photo you upload.
Why a storybook suits Charlie so well
Say "Charlie and the…" to almost any adult and they will finish the sentence with a chocolate factory. Roald Dahl gave the name one of the best-known book titles in the English language, and that rhythm — a bright two-syllable name, then "and the", then something wonderful — is exactly how a children's book title wants to sound. Your Charlie gets to borrow that pattern, but this time the story is about him: his face in the illustrations, his friends and pets alongside him, and the adventure he would actually choose.
The name also behaves beautifully inside a story. Charlie is stressed on the first syllable (CHAR-lee) and ends on that soft, open "-ee" sound, so it carries well when read aloud — whether a character is calling it across a moonlit clearing or whispering it inside a rocket. It doesn't change shape in English sentences, so it reads cleanly on every page, from the cover to the dedication. And because Charlie is short, it sits comfortably on a cover next to a long, dramatic title without crowding it.
There is also something quietly fitting about giving a Charlie his own adventure. So many famous Charlies are the ordinary boy at the centre of an extraordinary story — the kid who finds the golden ticket, the one who keeps trying to kick the football. A personalised book lets your Charlie join that line on his own terms: maybe he is the astronaut who lands on a pale alien plain, maybe the boy who makes friends with a deer at the edge of the forest. Either way, when he hears "Charlie" read aloud on the next page, it is about him and nobody else.
Where the name Charlie comes from
Charlie began life as the affectionate short form of Charles, which comes from the old Germanic word karl, meaning "free man". The name travelled through French into English, and it was carried by Charlemagne — Charles the Great — and later by a long line of European kings, including the British monarchs of that name. The "-ie" ending is the classic English and Scottish diminutive, the same friendly suffix that turns a formal name into the one used at home.
For most of history Charlie was a nickname rather than a name on a birth certificate. That changed over recent decades: parents in New Zealand, Australia and the UK increasingly started registering Charlie on its own, and it has become one of the most familiar boys' names in New Zealand classrooms. Its appeal is easy to see — it feels warm and slightly cheeky, yet it has a royal name sitting right behind it if he ever wants something more formal.
Charlie also has a life outside the nursery. In the NATO phonetic alphabet, "Charlie" stands for the letter C, which is why pilots, sailors and radio operators say it every day. Add Charlie Brown from the Peanuts comics and Charlie Bucket from Dahl, and it is a name that children often meet in stories long before they can read — a nice thing to point out to a Charlie when he spots his own name in print.
Part of the name's charm is how easily it moves between ages and settings. A baby Charlie, a muddy-kneed Charlie at rugby practice and a grown-up Charlie in a suit all sound right, which is not true of every nickname-style name. It also travels well: Charlie is understood instantly in Auckland, London, Sydney and Toronto, so grandparents and cousins overseas will never stumble over it. Because it is usually spelled the same way everywhere, it rarely needs correcting — handy when it is going on a book cover.
Nicknames and ways to say Charlie
- Charlie — Already the friendly form — most families never shorten it further, and it works just as well for a toddler as for a grown man.
- Charles — The full, formal version. Some Charlies are registered as Charles and only hear it on official letters or when they are in trouble.
- Chaz / Chas — A punchy one-syllable version, popular with older siblings and sports teammates.
- Chazza — The playful Australian and New Zealand twist — the same habit that turns Barry into Bazza.
- Charlie-boy — An affectionate parent or grandparent form, often used at bedtime.
- Chuck — Mostly heard in the United States; rarer in New Zealand, but some families like its old-fashioned charm.
How it works
How a book with your child's name comes to life.
Olivia
1
Create your hero and other characters
Upload one photo and it becomes a hero with your child's real likeness. Add up to 5 characters — siblings, friends, even a pet.
- A name, age and one photo
- Their real likeness in the illustrations
- Up to 5 characters: siblings, friends, a pet
2
Build the story and illustration style
Pick a ready-made plot from many worlds, or write your own. Choose the illustration style, the book's language and a dedication — you'll see a title suggestion and a story preview right away.
- Lots of worlds and plots — or write your own
- Choice of illustration style and language
- A personal dedication at the front
- Instant title suggestion and story preview
3
Get an e-book you can fine-tune
Ready within 15 minutes. Flip through the book online, fine-tune the texts, have any illustrations you pick regenerated, then view the e-book.
- Usually ready within 15 minutes
- Interactive page-flipping online
- Edit texts + regenerate illustrations
- Downloadable PDF + optional audiobook
And there's more
Get your book delivered to your door
Love it? Order a printed copy of your finished e-book anytime. We'll print it in full colour as an A4 hardcover and ship it right to your door.
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Audiobook
+ $5.99- Narrated by a professional voice
- Start it once you've finished editing the book — ready in a few minutes
- Listen right on the website, no downloads
- The printed book includes a QR code page for instant playback
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Create a book today that they'll never forget.
Your digital book is usually ready within 15 minutes of ordering. The printed A4 hardcover ships straight to your door.
Create a bookReviews
Parents and kids who loved their book.
Over 1,700 books starring their very own hero
My daughters love the book! We read it every evening before bedtime. The story is so sweet and lovingly written, and the pictures are beautiful. My girls feel really special because their own name appears in the book. A great keepsake forever! Absolutely recommend. ❤️
We got the book as a birthday present and it turned out perfectly. The print quality pleasantly surprised me – hardcover, nice paper and illustrations printed in fine detail. The characters are drawn so well that my daughter recognized her sister, me, the giraffe and herself :) She really likes the story and now it’s her favourite book, we read it almost every evening. On top of that, it will remain a lovely keepsake that she’ll come back to even in a few years. I definitely recommend it.
The book was a gift… I’ll find out how happy it makes them… but it’s very beautiful
I have the books ready as a gift, so I’m already looking forward to handing them over
An absolutely stunning book made to order. It's not only a beautiful gift, but a keepsake for a lifetime. Our sons are thrilled. Not only did they find “themselves” in the book, but the whole story also takes place in their favourite place, which is the ice rink. The whole book is accompanied by wonderful pictures, and the dedication from us, the parents, is just the cherry on top. I warmly recommend it. Not only will all the “heroes of the book” be thrilled, but so will you, as soon as you see the book with your own eyes :)
Our daughter was absolutely thrilled, she looked through it several times in a row and declared that it's pretty, she hasn't had enough of it yet and we read it every day before bedtime.
The book is very beautiful, I would have welcomed more pages (for that price), the story is interesting, because my granddaughter loves animals and her cousins, but I have to wait until Christmas for her reaction
I got the book for a birthday and the princess wouldn’t put it down.
The book is very nice. The pictures look very nice, they're not blurry. The book really made us happy.
Very beautiful book, I always have trouble choosing in a bookshop, something bothers me about every one, or I can't find a theme I'd want.. here I can make up anything
A beautiful book that has its own unique magic! ❤️ The story is wonderfully done and the fact that your very own child becomes the main hero is absolutely amazing. My son was thrilled with the book and so was I. 🥰 A great idea, beautiful illustrations and a wonderful keepsake that we will happily come back to. I highly recommend it to all parents who want to make their children happy and give them the feeling that they are the heroes of their own story. ❤️📚
The book is wonderful! Exactly as I had dreamed it and designed it, a beautiful keepsake for my little son ♥️
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FAQ
Questions parents ask.
Popular questions
Both. Charlie started as the short form of Charles, but today many boys are registered simply as Charlie. Whichever it is on his birth certificate, you choose the exact name that appears in his book.